Surviving Hell, Showing Strength
by ByeByeSanity
Summary: Haruno Sakura is a civilian born shinobi. Haruno Sakura is participating in a war no one was prepared for. Haruno Sakura is tired. Haruno Sakura may have the tool that they need to win the war. AU War Era fic.
1. The Creation

Chapter 1: The Creation

" _Some Succeed Because They Are Destined To, But Most Succeed Because They Are Determined To."_

-Unknown

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START FLASHBACK – PRE-WAR

 _It took months, but finally it was finished. Haruno Sakura took a step back from her work desk to get a better view of the seal that she had modified and created. The idea originated from Tsunade's Reserve Seal and its use of storing chakra for later use. If the seal that Sakura created worked, it would be a total game changer._

 _With one last bright smile at the scroll that contained the literal blood, sweat, and tears of her hardwork, Sakura rolled it up and started the process of cleaning up her area. Her workstation was located in the lower levels of the Hokage tower, one of the many empty offices that had yet to be filled with new administration members despite the number of years since the beginning of Tsunade's reign._

 _Usually, Sakura considered herself a neatfreak when it came to keeping her small office clean, but since the beginning of her research, all neatness disappeared under an avalanche of scrolls and books that she used to create her seal. The only clear spots clean of any clutter in the entire room was the desk and chair, but even those suffered the tragic state of Sakura's pursuit of knowledge. The poor desk was originally a nice oak desk with little wear or damage, but now it was covered in ink and gouges from a frustrated writing utensil. The chair was one of the nice full back rolling chairs that she managed to steal from one of the nicer offices, but now it had a permanent indention in the shape of Sakura's butt, and several mysterious stains in its leather upholstery._

 _However, in Sakura's somewhat humble opinion, the disaster that is her office was only a necessary sacrifice in the long run of unseen geniusness. Gently shoving one precarious pile of research material out of the way with her foot, Sakura picked up her scroll and hurried out of her office. Taking steps two at a time to reach the Hokage's office, Sakura wiped her ink stained fingers off on her study cloths to at least make herself look somewhat presentable for an appearance in the highest office in the village._

 _The staircase that Sakura was using is available only for those who have the highed clearance from the Hokage. The cards used to grant clearance levels are unique to every individual who happens to have one, and only opens the door for those who's chakra was had the proper clearance. It allowed the Hokage to assign access levels for whoever they wanted. The access level that Sakura has, happens to be of the group with the highest clearance. Theoretically, she can go into any room in the tower, but ultimately, the Hokage has the decision to deny clearance as it's being asked for entrance in a room._

 _Normal shinobi only had basic clearance; their clearance included access to the Hokage's presentation room, the mission office, and rotation room. Those with almost unlimited access to the whole building were the ANBU members hiding out in the walls of the tower, protecting not only the Hokage, but the valuable information contained within the building._

 _It only took minutes for Sakura to travel from her office on the lower levels, up to the floor leading to the Hokage's office. The door to the staircase was basically hidden from plain view, and was only visible once a key card was flashed in front of the key reader. Which made for some interesting times, since the door seemed to change positions hourly leading to some spectacularly hilarious reactions from people passing in front of a previously innocuous wall that changed shape, seemingly at random._

 _Pausing in front of the Hokage's office, Sakura made one more attempt at straightening out her appearance before she stepped in front of her Master. Looking down at her appearance, Sakura grimaced. Maybe it would have been better to delay her presentation so that she could have taken a quick shower and changed her clothes. The current outfit she had on was a modified set of pajamas that was made up of training shorts and a faded Konoha Academy t-shirt from her academy days._

" _Stop dallying and come in, Sakura." Tsunade's sharp voice broke Sakura out of her self-assessment, taking the decision of cleaning up out of her hands._

 _Taking a deep breath to contain the sudden excitement that overcame her, Sakura grabbed the door knob and pushed open the heavy wood door, while taking a step into the room._

" _Master, I've finally finished the project that I started months ago."_

END FLASHBACK

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The strong stench of blood and death hung heavy in the air, blocking out the usual scent of trees and fresh air that would usually be in the forest. Currently, the numerous trees that took up residence in the forest were knocked down to make way for the various medical tents that were set up to support the war against the Zetsu and its allies.

The medics manning the medical site had no more than a few hours of rest, before they had to jump back into the task of healing shinobi. The medical site was the backbone of the war effort, it could not stop functioning without bringing about the end of the entire Shinobi Alliance.

At the heart of the site sat one of the largest tents. The tent served as both the communication area and the meeting space for those in charge. Currently, the two apprentices of the Fifth Hokage hovered over a map that took up most of the space of the room that it was in. It was marked with the teleportation seals that were used for transporting the injured and the healed from the medical site to the battlefield, and back.

Shizune's face looked as if it aged greatly since the beginning of the war. Deep bags sat under her eyes and the frown lines around her mouth seemed as if they wanted to take up permanent residence. She pointed at one area where an array was written.

"The last correspondence we received from headquarters says that we lost this seal array." Taking another glance at the correspondence, she sat back with a tired sigh. "Everyone there is allegedly KIA."

The frown on Sakura's face almost matched Shizune's in its intensity. She clenched her fist, causing the pen that she had in her hand to break in half, sending plastic across the map. With a scowl, Sakura threw the pen into a small trashcan of similarly destroyed pens sitting next to the map table. A frustrated sound escaped her throat at having to cross out another array, but she still picked up another pen and crossed out the now terminated site.

"The White Zetsu are taking out the sites almost as soon as we create another one. We're just lucky that they haven't managed to use the sealing arrays yet." Sakura growled.

The whole situation was making her mad. As soon as they heal one batch of shinobi, another batch arrives, leaving no respite for those with the best healing abilities. The only reason Sakura and Shizune weren't out in the mayhem lending their services, was because of the arrival of the correspondence from headquarters. The two were in charge the site as a whole, but more specifically making sure that the people in charge of the sealing array at the medical site, was aware of any changes outside of their bubble. If the White Zetsu were able to mimic a group with a sealing array, and the sealers brought them into the camp, all kinds of hell would be raised.

Sakura leaned back in her chair heavily and looked up blearily at the ceiling of the tent. The last time she had a decent amount of sleep, was the day before Pein's attack on Konoha. Since then, every day afterward was a race against death. Healing those who suffered, both shinobi and civilian alike. But it seemed like for every person she healed, she had to seal another into a preservation scroll after they died. She didn't want to imagine how many scrolls had been used up so far since the war itself began. She just knew that Konoha was going very quickly through its stockpile of preservation scrolls that had accumulated since the last war.

On the other side of the table, Shizune forced herself to her feet with a weary huff. "There's no use worrying about it Sakura, we have others to focus on."

Sighing, Sakura stood up from her chair as well. "I know."

Sakura placed the pen over the position of the newly destroyed site on the map and followed Shizune out of the tent.

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The ground shook, causing many people to try to find its source. A piercing sound came from one of the smaller tents, a signal that all was well, making a sigh of relief be breathed out by tense medic-nin and shinobi. It would be disastrous if the main healing site was overtaken.

Inside of the tent, Sakura removed her fist from the White Zetsu that had managed to infiltrate the medical site with the appearance of a Konoha shinobi.

"Go prepare an examination room." Sakura snapped at the wide eyed genin who was assigned to help around the medical site. The genin turned wide eyes from the small crater in the tent to Sakura's angry green eyes. With a startled yelp, the genin turned around and darted off to do as instructed.

Tsking, Sakura squatted next to the corpse of the White Zetsu. Other than the whole in its chest, it was in perfect condition. Maybe they'll finally be able to gain an advantage against the White menaces.

The flap to the tent parted, showing Shizune standing in the gap with a questioning look on her face. When she caught sight of the corpse, surprise flew across her features. She hurried forward to lean over the corpse for a closer look. Sighing, she looked over at Sakura.

"This is both a blessing and a curse." Shizune started. "We can figure out how the White Zetsu work, but we also have to figure out how they got in."

It seemed like everyday provided a new and stressful event for the medical site to overcome. Sakura didn't know how much more the medic-nins could take before they broke completely. Already, Shizune had to deal with several medics who had breakdowns because of the work and death. From their point of view, it seemed like the war was a never-ending monster that would never stop chewing up and spitting out young shinobi.

Sakura herself didn't know how much her or Shizune could take before they too need a complete break from their duty, especially with the slow progress of news reaching their location. She doesn't know the status of anyone that she is familiar with. She doesn't know if everyone survived, or if someone died. She doesn't know if Sasuke and Naruto managed to kill each other yet, or if they are fighting side-by-side. She doesn't know if Tsunade and the other Kages are alive, or if they are on their death beds. If the information does not pertain to the upkeep of the medical site, then the Yamanaka's in charge of distributing information won't share that information unless there is a lull in the fights.

Sakura just knew that something had to change if they didn't want the war to drag on forever.

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lol, hey ya'll it sure has been awhile. The last time I uploaded anything was back in 2015 and it was also a new story. HOPEFULLY, I'll be able to finish this story, as well as Strength because man I suck at being consistent. Check my profile for more information, also I'm over on Tumblr as ByeByeSanity, so come bother me so that I know people actually read this stuff.


	2. The Construction

lol, hey guys it sure has been awhile. i did not mean to do that. here's to hoping the next chapter won't take another month to complete. please see my end AN for an explanation about the background for this fic cuz i sorta forgot to do that the last chapter.

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Chapter 2: The Construction

" _Appear Weak When You Are Strong, And Strong When You Are Weak."_

-Sun Tzu

 _Once Sakura finished the explanation about her new seal design, she collapsed into one of the chairs sitting in front of Tsunade's desk and pushed the scroll closer to her master for review._

 _Tsunade leaned forward on her elbows and used one painted fingernail to flick the scroll open. Sakura used the time that Tsunade was taking to look over her theoretical work, to take a deep breath and calm down. The scroll in Tsunade's hands contained hundreds of hours of research and experimentation, Sakura only needed Tsunade's approval. If approved, Sakura can move onto the next phase, which was drawing the seal on a human test subject. More specifically, Tsunade drawing the seal on Sakura, because nothing says Scientist! like experimenting on yourself._

 _Besides, there are literally only two people in the entire village with the chakra control to manage such a sophisticated and complicated seal. One of those people were needed to monitor the seal as it was being used, and the other one was the one who it was going to be used on._

 _The tapping of Tsunade's nails on the desk interrupted Sakura's brief mediation._

" _Everything looks good," she said while glancing up at her apprentice. Tsunade placed her elbows on her desk and leaned forward to rest her chin on her hands._

" _You made sure that nobody knows what you are doing, correct? The last thing we need is some old fossil trying to prolong their life span. Or someone with aspirations of being god, trying to use this technique to raise the dead or do something equally stupid," Tsunade murmured with a glint in her eyes._

 _Sakura recognized that glint. That Glint meant that there was someone out there who stupid enough to try her Master's patience. That Glint meant that Sakura needed to vacate the premises, unless she wanted to be 'invited' for a sparring match in the ANBU training grounds._

" _I took every measure possible to hide my movements and my research. The information that I came across could lead to the downfall of entire villages if it landed in the wrong hands so I took every precaution necessary," Sakura said confidently, trying to hide the slight waver in her voice at That Glint._

 _Tsunade made a scoffing sound while slumping back into her high-backed chair. Sakura jumped slightly at the noise and the abrupt movement, which she tried to hide by adjusting her position in her chair. By the knowing look on her Master's face, her twitchiness did not go unnoticed._

" _It's not your carelessness that I'm worried about," Tsunade said._

 _Sakura frowned to herself, there were times where Tsunade made cryptic off-hand comments. She never explained the true meaning behind them, leaving it up to Sakura to figure out the meaning._

" _Before you can even consider having that seal placed on you, there are several exercises that you need to master," Tsunade said. She stood up from her desk and walked over to one of the large bookcases sitting next to a potted fauna._

 _Tsunade slid her hand down the side of the bookcase and used her foot to nudge the pot out of the way. Sakura watched in confusion as Tsunade knelt down to pull the fauna out of the pot by its stem._

 _Sakura's master fumbled around in the pot for a few seconds and withdrew with a small piece of paper in her hand. Tsunade carelessly dropped the wilting plant back into the pot, then slapped the seal on the side of the bookcase._

 _To Sakura's somewhat non-surprise, the bookcase rotated to reveal another set of shelves with fewer scrolls and books on them. The village had so many secrets embedded in its different buildings, it should be a surprise to no one that seemingly innocuous objects were used to conceal secret hiding locations and entryways._

 _In the last month alone, Sakura stumbled across several 2 hidden walkways and 11 storage places that were abandoned after the transition from the Third Hokage to the Fifth Hokage. There was no telling what other secrets are hidden in the Hokage Tower, not to mention the entire village proper._

 _Tsunade went straight for one of the smaller scrolls. She picked it up, and almost casually threw it over her shoulder for Sakura to catch. The throw itself wasn't much of a surprise since the Hokage had the bad habit of throwing objects at her subordinates. What surprised Sakura was her master's callous way of treating a scroll that needed to be hidden. You would expect that if the scroll needed to be hidden away from prying eyes, it would be treated a little more delicately._

 _Sakura fingered the broken seal on the scroll in thought. The scroll was only about the size of her hand, but it was almost thicker than a clenched fist, and it smelled suspiciously musky, almost similar to the smell of boob sweat._

 _Before the horror of where exactly the scroll was hidden before it ended up behind a bookcase in the Hokage Tower could fully settle in, Tsunade interrupted._

" _That scroll is the culmination of decades of research," Tsunade said. "It was originally started by my grand-uncle before he assumed the duties of Hokage, and I added on after doing some research outside of the village."_

 _Tsunade walked back over to her desk with a little pot of tea in her hands. For a brief moment, Sakura was flabbergasted. It was rare for her mentor to willingly make herself a pot of tea. Usually it fell on either Sakura or Shizune, otherwise their master would drink sake or store bought matcha._

 _The Hokage settled behind her desk with a satisfied hum. She made herself comfortable by crossing her ankles underneath her desk and reaching within one of the desk compartments for a shot glass._

" _Before you even think of starting on this seal, I want you to memorize everything in that scroll," Tsunade used a napkin to clean the little glass and set it aside, almost reverently. "You also need to be able to do every exercise in that scroll without a thought. That's the only way I will draw this seal on you."_

 _Tsunade picked up the tea pot and poured some of its liquid into the shot glass. It was clear._

" _No one other than me and my grand-uncle are able to use those exercises, so take care of that scroll and allow no one to know its content," Tsunade set the teapot down and fixed her student with an expectant stare._

 _Sakura recognized that look, that was the 'What Shizune doesn't know won't hurt her or you.' Usually Sakura tattled to her senpai anyways, but the scroll in her hands was not something that just anyone had access to. It was a worthy bribe. Turning to leave her master in peace to enjoy her alcohol break, Tsunade stopped her._

" _The next time your father goes to Iron, make sure to tell him to bring me some more of this stuff."_

 _Worthy bribe indeed, because there are just somethings that Sakura Would Rather Not Do, and that included asking her dad for more sake. But still, the inner nerd in her was satisfied._

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 _About three months later, Tsunade and Sakura stood in the middle of a room in the Hokage Tower, or somewhere in the village. There was no telling where the transportation took them. The room that Tsunade brought Sakura to was not just any room, it was one of the many Hokage's Safe, that the Hokage used to store sensitive information and dangerous techniques._

 _What made the Hokage's Safe unique was its ability to 'know' who the current Hokage is. Through the extraordinary power of seals, the Safe allows only the current Hokage and their chosen entourage knowledge of its location and entrance into the room. After the mantle of Hokage transfers from one individual to another, the previous Hokage loses all access to any Safe, unless the current Hokage grants them power._

 _With the position and status of Hokage, a person has the ability to enter into any Safe in the village, and they have unlimited access to every nook and cranny that the village has. This prevents opponents of the Hokage from gaining an upper hand against the Hokage and it makes it incredibly difficult for a coup to occur._

 _What is not widely known, and what Tsunade told Sakura as she allowed her access to the Safe, was that Konoha was almost sentient._

 _While constructing the basic foundations of the village through his Wood Release, the First Hokage's chakra seeped into the very being of the village. Every tree grown by the Hokage contained a smidgen of his chakra, as well as every Hokage after him. The trees, because of their supernatural growth rate, are able to absorb the chakra of everything living near it, if it resides there long enough._

 _As a result of Konoha's century long history, the trees and surrounding forest absorbed well over a thousand different chakra, from normal everyday citizens, to the shinobi that makes up Konoha's military, to the very nature that calls the forest home._

 _Using the chakra that it managed to absorb, as well as through the inauguration ceremony, Konohagakure is able to know who her leader is. The Will of Fire's Flame knows everything that it needs to know about the heart of her leader, as well as her villagers. Which makes for some very interesting times when spies try to forcibly enter forbidden rooms of the village, only to be run through with a tree branch, merrily waving a pretty pink flower at the bloody end of its tip._

 _When Sakura really thinks about it, the fact that her village may be sentient is not all that surprising. Her parents always told her that there was no such thing as a corrupt Hokage because the village Knows._

" _It knows when you are sleeping, it knows when you are wake, it knows when you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake," Sakura mumbled under her breath after listening to her Master's explanation._

 _Tsunade snorted in amusement as she guided Sakura out of the main room and into one of the smaller rooms off to the side._

" _That nursery rhyme is still around? I thought it would have faded out by now," Tsunade said while walking into the room. Tsunade walked over to one of the built in bookshelves and started pulling down books and scrolls to place into a box that she had brought into the room with her. Finishing with one shelf, she moved across the room to another. Scanning the titles written on the side of the books and scrolls with a painted finger, she seemingly chose things at random to add to her growing stash._

" _All of this time, the rhyme was about that?" Sakura questioned. She pulled a face mask out of one of her medic packs around her waist, to secure across her face. Some of the books and scrolls that Tsunade picked up were dusty enough to make her sinuses act up._

" _From what my grandfather told me, the flame that is used during the inauguration knows your intentions. It's the very heart of the village and if it doesn't like what it finds, it'll destroy your soul," Tsunade said while setting her now full box, on a table situated in the middle of the room._

" _However, no one knows that the Will of Fire's Flame is more than symbolic since it hasn't done anything to any of the previous Hokages," She continued. Tsunade dug around the box and pulled out the books and scrolls to place in different piles, while Sakura stood off to the side in wide-eyed horror._

 _Seeing the look on her apprentice's face, Tsunade couldn't help but laugh, "Don't worry, there are already steps that need to be taken before someone can be considered for the Hokage's seat. Besides, it only attacks the unworthy."_

 _Sakura didn't know what to do with that information._

 _To find out that the village was sentient was one thing, but to know that the flame that sat on the topmost floor of the Hokage's Tower was able to discern a person's heart was a whole nother thing that she did not want to think about. The kind of jutsu and seals that had to be placed on the flame. The kind of chakra that was needed to maintain it everyday of the year. It was almost mind-blowing._

" _Calm down Sakura," Tsunade commanded without looking up from sorting out her piles. Tsunade waved a manicured hand around, "Take a look around the room."_

 _Sakura made a noise of confirmation and walked to the nearest bookshelf. The titles were faded a little, but what she could make out, stunned her. Scanning more bookshelves to confirm her suspicion, Sakura slowly made her way around the room._

 _Similar to other government buildings in the village, this room was circular and made out of wood. Even though the wood was over a century old, it still looked and smelled new. There was no sign of termite damage or splinters in sight. Everything was smoothed down and sparkled as if it was oiled the day before._

 _Every wall in the room, besides the doorway, was made up of bookshelves. The bookshelves themselves were filled with handwritten scrolls and books from before the Founding of Konoha. The information within the room seemed to be the culmination of all five Hokages. Everything from the trade routes of Suna, to the detailed notes of a forbidden jutsu was meticulously written down and stored in the room._

 _Sakura was floored. The inner nerd in her screamed. To be able to come and go into this room was a sign of extreme trust. For her to be able to read anything she wanted, about whatever she wanted was almost overwhelming. If she wanted, she could look up a jutsu invented by the Second Hokage, or she could read a political analysis of the impact of drought on a village on the border of Kusa by the Third Hokage. Her choices were boundless, and she had to find somewhere to sit down before she did something as embarrassing as hyperventilating or letting out a fangirlish scream of delight._

 _Noticing her student's impending meltdown, Tsunade tapped the table with the book that she was going through._

" _Sit down and start going through that stack," she said while motioning to pile that was closest to a chair._

 _Sakura sneezed. The mask isn't as effective if she had her nose buried in a very dusty book. Sakura noted the title of the book and what page it was on before returning it to its previous spot. Slinging her travel bag off of her shoulder, Sakura sat down in the offered seat and took a glance at what was in front of her. One scroll seemed to be about nature and natural chakra, another was about the theory behind combining two natural chakra types to create another. The titles varied, but they were all about chakra and theory._

" _The scroll I gave you before, was to prepare you about the stuff that you will encounter in those readings."_

 _Tsunade placed the last book into one of the piles, before dropping the empty box on the floor with a dull thud. The kage leaned her hip on the table and peered down at her student. The mask on Sakura's face made it seem as if she was going on mission to excavate a site, instead of studying in a room. She had on her typical research uniform, consisting of civilian work out pants and an oversized long sleeved shirt, that Tsunade was pretty sure belonged to one of her chunin assistants. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun and she wore a comfortable pair of sandals. All in all, she looked like a harmless civilian studying for entrance exams, instead of a dangerous shinobi capable of destroying a mountain with a flick of her finger._

 _While Tsunade was busy being proud of raising a dangerous pink haired ninja, Sakura had already pulled out her writing utensils and several notebooks, some of which looked as if they suffered from repeated use._

" _The pile closest to you is what you need to read first. After you finish that one you can move onto the others," Tsunade said. She flicked a dust bunny away from her face with a frown. "The other piles don't need to be done in any particular order as long as you finish one stack before you move onto the next one."_

" _Once you're finished reading and comprehending everything, I'll test your knowledge and then we'll begin creating your seal," Tsunade finished._

" _You will be able to enter this safe for however long I am Hokage. Remember the hand seals that I showed you, and you'll be able to enter this building from any doorway within the village bounds._

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lol, I just realized that I didn't explain the basic background of this story, because without it, ya'll would be a little but confused. First off, I used to watch the anime more than I read the manga back in the days, so when I got word that they were killing Neji, I stopped watching/reading Naruto. Now that was back in 2012, so I have missed about 2 years' worth of manga chapters and about 5 years of anime episodes. I've seen snapshots since I stopped paying attention, but whatever anime episode was on in 2012 was when I stopped really giving af. SO, if you stuck through since 2012, you will notice inaccuracies with battles, dialogue, and a whole sleuth of other stuff. Stuff like Madara and the edo-tensei people popping up in the wrong place at the wrong time, as well as characters in places that they were not in canon (like the Kabuto/Sasuke/Itachi(?) confrontation). You will also notice a change in techniques cuz I'm trying to go for some type of realism.

Now for this story. This story is my attempt at a Sakura whose narrative was not dependent on Naruto and Sasuke. Which means a tone down on romance and an exploration of Sakura's skillset if the series cared about her. The whole premise of this story is simple: what if Sakura made more improvements on the Yin seal besides the Creation Rebirth and the Strength of a Hundred Technique? What if she were able to somehow overcome the weaknesses of the Creation Rebirth and the Strength of a Hundred Technique? So that's why I wrote this story.

Thank you to those who sent good-will my way. It made it easier for me to update somewhere close to on time. (sike)

Also I'm over at Tumblr as YesIAmJustThatCrazy, and this story is also posted at Ao3 under ByeByeSanity.

Like always, constructive criticism is always welcome!


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